Less Than One
by MrsArystarKrory
Summary: Attack on Titan Short Story: Titans are terrorizing the city and the Survey Corps come to the rescue, but Eren faces a trajedy that will change his life forever. (Rated T for slight language, but nothing really bad)
1. Chapter 1

"Eren! Eren! Wake up! You can't die on me! We have come way too far for it to all end now! Do you hear me?! Get up now! Eren!"

I could hear Mikasa screaming at me while I laid there. A sharp pain quickly filled my body, but at the same time, it quickly disappeared. Was this the end?

Thursday morning, about nine o'clock; a loud noise filled my ears as a sharp pain filled my side.

"Get up, brat. You have work to do."

I rolled out of bed, but rolled slightly too far and fell out of bed, landing on the floor. I sat up, eyes closed, thinking about the voice I had just heard. Oh, crap. It was Captain Levi and I suddenly discovered that the loud noise was my alarm clock and the sharp pain was his boot meeting my side. "You know, instead of using pain to wake me up, there is this thing called talking," I told him.

"I prefer pain," he responded, throwing open the curtains and letting the light bleed in. I rolled over and moaned as he threw a mop at me and left.

"Get to work," Levi said. I only moaned and threw my hand up at him.

I laid there for another five minutes and finally decided to move. Realizing that the mop was still on me, I threw it off as I sat up from the floor and rubbed my eyes. "Screw you, Levi," I mumbled under my breath.

Levi is above me in authority. Actually, he is my Captain. See, I got into some trouble a while ago for "Titan" reasons, and well, now he's in charge of me. He's a fairly short man with short black hair who doesn't mess around and won't tolerate any back talk, ever. Trust me.

"I don't hear any cleaning, brat!" Levi called from downstairs.

"I'm getting there!" I called back. Oh yeah, he's also a major clean freak, if you didn't know.

"Well, get there faster!" annoyance in his voice.

Standing up from the floor of my room, I grabbed the mop that was thrown at me and walked out of the room and downstairs to where Levi had the entire Survey Corps cleaning from top to bottom. I walked straight up to Levi with the mop in hand and threw it right back at him. He dodged it, of course.

"Shower first, clean later," I told him. Then I turned around and headed for the showers.

"Jaeger!" Levi spoke. "Don't back talk your Captain! Clean yourself, then you'll be scrubbing the roof 'till it's spotless!"

I kept on walking because I didn't care. Cleaning the roof wasn't difficult. I'd done it plenty of times before.

"And you will be contributing to Professor Hanji's experiments today. That means whatever she says."

That made me stop; crap!

"Awesome!" Hanji yelled from another room.

"Do you understand me, Jaeger?" Levi demanded.

I said nothing, but continued to the showers, terrified of what Hanji planned to do to me, but I didn't want to think about it. All I wanted to do was take a long shower and ignore Levi for now.

When I reached the showers, Horseface, also known as Jean, walked past me.

"So, I hear you're the main event for Hanji's experiments today," he spoke, snickering.

I hated this guy so much. Ever since I joined the Survey Corps, all he did was torment me. Jean is taller than me with black and white two-toned hair with a, well, horseface.

"Who asked your opinion?" I spoke as I walked past him. He snapped me with a towel. "Owe!"

"What? I didn't do anything."

"Yes you did!"

We were about to start a fight when Levi interrupted. "Jaeger! Shower!" he shouted at me. Neither Jean nor I moved a single muscle. That's where we went wrong, well actually, me. Levi dropped the broom that he was holding and walked towards us. Let's just say that some things happened and harsh words were said and now I have a bruise and a hurt pride.

When that was done, my hurt pride and I went to the showers to clean up for the day. I stripped, took my shower, got dressed, and headed for the kitchen to get breakfast when I was finished. When I entered the kitchen, I wasn't at all surprised to be greeted by Sasha Blause.

Sasha Blause, where do I even start with her? Generally, we refer to her as Potato Girl because on the first day of training, she was found eating a potato in the line-up. She is tall and skinny with long, brown hair and always has a smile on her face. I'm pretty sure that she tends to irritate Levi from time to time, but she is an amazing fighter, so I give her props.

"Morning, Sasha," I said as I grabbed an apple and a bread roll.

"Good morning, Eren! How are you?" she said. Yup, perky as ever.

I just shrugged my shoulders.

She started in again. "So, I hear that you have to help Professor Hanji with her experiments today."

"Seriously! Does news travel that fast here?!"

"Probably; Jean told me though."

"Damn it!" Now I was angry. "Horseface!" I walked straight out of the kitchen. I was determined to find him and then smack him, very hard.

I turned around a corner to head down the hallway, but apparently I wasn't allowed to because the next thing I knew, I was making a brand new friend with the floor. I had tripped over something, but what? Turning over on my back, I looked up to find Levi standing above me. Crap.

"Brat, you have work to do," he said. Why does this guy hate me so much?

"You know, I already have a sore side, a bruised shoulder, a hurt pride, and now I'm pretty sure my nose will be bruised because of you," I told him.

"Not my problem. Now, here's a broom. Sweep the meeting room."

"You have got to be kidding me! That room is huge!"

"Do I look like I'm the kidding type, Jaeger? Sweep, now, then the roof, then to Hanji, now." He was serious. Then he turned around and walked away.

"Aye, aye, Captain," I said, saluting him. I pulled myself off the floor and grabbed the broom. "Off to the meeting room."

On my way to the meeting room, I passed by the room where Hanji was scrubbing a window. When I spotted her, I attempted to keep my cool and hoped desperately that she wouldn't notice me because I didn't have time to chat and Hanji doesn't shut up. I must not have hoped hard enough because to my dismay, she noticed me.

Professor Hanji, crazy as ever! She works with Captain Levi and loves science and Titans. She's tall with short brown hair and glasses. Hanji is always trying to find out how Titans work, and that also means picking at me whenever she gets the chance. I try not to let her experiment on me because last time she did, she put me in a well to contain my Titan abilities; not fun at all.

"Eren!" she called, nearly falling off her step ladder. I kept walking and tried to ignore her. "Eren, wait! I wanted to talk to you!" Again, I failed.

I decided to turn around and see what she wanted. It's not like I could end up in more trouble anyway. "Yes, Hanji?"

"I just wanted to thank you for agreeing to help me with my experiments today. It means a lot to me."

"I didn't really agree. It was more of a force, but you're welcome." I could tell that she was really happy.

"Well, anyway, thanks," she spoke with a smile. "Oh yeah! I almost forgot! What blood type are you?"

"Blood type?!" Now I was scared. "Why do you need my blood type?!"

"For legal, medical, and science reasons," she answered quietly. "So, can I have it?"

"No! I don't even know what it is!"

"Oh, well we can take care of that!"

I began to back up while pointing the broom handle at Hanji. This lady was crazy!

Just then, the sound of footsteps began to come down the hallway, and just as my luck would have it, it was Levi. "Jaeger!" he snapped at me. "I will not tell you again to get to work."

I turned to run. "Got to go, Hanji!" Broom in hand, I ran straight for the meeting room.

"Bye, Eren! See you later then!" Hanji yelled to me. "Hey, Levi?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you know Eren's blood type?"

"No."

"Darn it." She walked back into the room to finish cleaning.

I got to the meeting room and ran inside, slamming the door behind me. "Holy crap. I…almost…died."

"You know, I really hate that guy."

"Ahh!" I jumped and hit the floor. "Don't sneak up on me, Mikasa!" My heart was beating like crazy.

"Sorry, Eren." She said as she helped me off the floor. I took her hand and stood up.

Mikasa Ackerman; amazing. She is one of my closest friends and is an amazing soldier. She has long, black hair and always wears the long red scarf I gave to her when we were young. Mikasa is my adopted sister and the closest family I have left. If I lost her, I don't know what I would do with myself.

"So, why do you take orders from that guy anyway?" she asked.

"Don't you remember? Titan, destruction, kick in the face?" I picked up the broom and began to sweep.

"Yeah, but still…"

"Still, what?"

"You shouldn't have to take orders from him just because of that."

"Mikasa, if I don't, then he kicks me out and we'll be screwed."

"I could take him."

I stopped sweeping and looked at her. "Now, don't get cocky. Cocky gets you nowhere."

"Sorry," she apologized.

"Besides, you are both amazing soldiers, and one cocky leads to two cocky, and then chaos." I continued to sweep the room. "This is taking forever!"

"Eren, you just started."

"Uhhh!" I slumped down in a chair, feeling really annoyed. "My life sucks!"

"No, just your sweeping career."

"I don't have one."

"Exactly."

Just then, a loud crash was heard outside.

"What was that?" I asked. Mikasa and I stood up and walked over to the window. That's when we saw it, a Titan.

Titans are huge creatures that feed on humans and are never satisfied. Many of our soldiers and the citizens have fallen prey to these beings way too many times. They're not always the easiest to dispose of, but it can and has been done.

The doors of the meeting room flew open as Armin ran in. "Titans are in the city."

"Yeah, we figured," Mikasa answered.


	2. Chapter 2

Armin Arlert, not as strong as the rest of the soldiers, but really smart. He's slightly shorter than me and has short blonde hair. He's my other close friend that I have known since we were kids and taught me all about the outside world from books that he found. His dream is to visit the outside world some day and see the fire and ice all around.

We ran out of the meeting room and followed Armin to grab our 3D Maneuver Gear and suit up. The Titan had to be stopped before it caused anymore destruction.

After suiting up, we ran outside where Levi stood at the front of the soldiers. The Titan stood in front, terrorizing the city.

Levi spoke, "Soldiers, you know what to do. Don't get cocky because you will die." We all stood and listened as he spoke. One Titan wasn't going to take us all down. "Move out!" Levi called as he started forward. We dispersed after the order and shot into the city. Some gathered citizens and moved them to a safer place while others flew up the sides of buildings to get off the ground. If you were caught on the ground, that was the end of you.

I turned back and looked at Armin and Mikasa. "Well, you heard the man, let's move out." Each of them gave a small head nod and drew their swords. I drew mine and ran forward, shooting up the nearest building with both of them close behind.

We landed on the rooftop and shock filled our faces; there was not just one Titan, but what looked nearing almost a hundred, and guess who stood at the front of them; yup, Annie. The last person I wanted to see during this tyrade.

Annie Leonhart, blonde, badass, and belligerent. She is an amazing fighter, but the bad thing is that she isn't really someone that you would want to be around. Annie is part Titan, meaning she can turn her body into a Titan, just like me. That's right, I, Eren Jaeger, is also part Titan. No, I'm not insanely proud about it, but it's something that can come in handy now and then.

"Eren, it's her," Mikasa said. She looked worried, but she is brave, and we all knew it.

I answered back, "Yeah, I know; Annie." I was at a total loss. Annie is still human, so why weren't the Titans attacking her? They seem to always go after me whenever I'm in Titan form. It didn't make any sense.

"Eren, watch out!" Armin yelled. "Behind you!"

I turned around just as a Titan took a swing at me. Lucky for me, all it did was graze my arm with its hand. Unlucky for me, a second Titan stood behind me and also took a swing, hitting me in the side.

"Eren!" both Mikasa and Armin yelled.

I tumbled off the roof and landed on the ground with a thud. Mikasa jumped off the roof with Armin close behind. They landed on the ground next to me and leaned down to help me up. Armin grabbed my arm and I screamed out in pain. "Owe!"

"Sorry, Eren," he apologized.

"We need to get you to Professor Hanji so she can help you," Mikasa said as she tried to be gentle while helping me up. Apparently, she wasn't gentle enough because I let out another scream of pain.

"Owe!"

"Professor Hanji is out in the field," Armin told her.

"Well, then we'll figure something out. Right now, we just need to get Eren up and get all of us off of the ground."

Both of them grabbed me and quickly lifted me from the ground. This time, I let out a bone-chilling, blood-curdling scream. The pain was unbearable and I could hardly deal with it, but that scream did it; the attention was caught of the Titans, and worst of all, Annie.

Annie turned and saw us, making our time on earth just a little shorter.

"Armin, buy us some time and try to distract Annie by all means. Mikasa, find Captain Levi and tell him about Annie and the other Titans. Something isn't right because the Titans aren't attacking Annie like they usually do," I told both of them.

Mikasa spoke up, "Are you crazy?! I'm not leaving your side!"

"Neither am I!" Armin added.

"It isn't a favor, it's an order!"

"I don't care! I'm not going anywhere!" Mikasa told me.

"Mikasa, now!" Now I was angry. "I can take care of myself. Both of you, go!"

They both looked at me with pleading eyes for a while longer before they let go of me and left.

"Don't die," I whispered as they left.

I laid up against the building for some time before finally deciding what to do. I raised my arm as I winced in pain from whatever was broken and brought my hand up to my mouth. It had to be done. I bit my hand, causing the blood to run down it. The energy surged through me as a loud roar escaped my mouth. It was all I could do, and this was the only thing that could beat the Titans.


	3. Chapter 3

(3rd Person P.O.V.)

Mikasa and Armin flew through the city, following the orders that were given to them. Titans zipped by as they jumped from rooftop to rooftop. Both of them stopped on one rooftop to think.

"We need to hurry. Annie is getting closer," Mikasa said.

"It's okay. You go find Levi and I-" Armin was cut off by a loud roar. "It's okay."

They gave each other a quick look of reassurance before leaping off the roof and heading their separate ways.

Mikasa reached Levi and informed him about what had happened. "Annie is leading the Titans, but something is wrong."

"The Titans aren't attacking her," he answered. "Where's Jaeger and Arlert?"

"Armin went to try and buy us some time by distracting Annie and Eren was back there." She gestured back to where Eren had fallen from the roof and gave them the orders.

"And you just left him?!" Now Levi was angry.

"He ordered us to!"

"Doesn't matter! You never leave a hurt comrade behind, ever!" He swung himself onto his horse and turned around. "Go help Armin."

"But-"

"Now. That's an order." He snapped the reins and sped off towards Eren.

"Yes, sir," Mikasa said softly. Then she headed towards Armin and Annie.

Levi raced through the streets on his horse, past buildings, past Titans, past fallen soldiers and citizens. In his tracks, he stopped. He got down from his horse and moved towards something small lying on the ground. He picked it up and turned it over. It was a torn, green piece of cloth. "Jaeger," he muttered. He turned around and jumped back on his horse, snapping the reins to fun at full speed. "Jaeger, don't die on me."

"Annie! Over here!" Armin called from the rooftop at her. "Annie!"

Annie spun around and looked directly at Armin.

"Annie! Why are you doing this?" he yelled to her. "You're better than this! Please!"

She began to walk towards him, but her walk quickly turned into a run, and she was now heading straight for Armin.

"Annie…Annie, stop!" he screamed.

"Armin! Move!" Mikasa yelled as she landed right in front of him. She drew her swords as Annie prepared to knock them off the roof.

CRASH!

Mikasa and Armin both jumped from the roof as Eren smashed into Annie. She stumbled to the side as Eren let out a loud roar.

The fighting between them continued on for a while longer. Mainly, it was punch, fall, kick, stumble, bite, roar. That's how it went.

About 15 minutes later, Levi showed up on horseback after finding Eren. "Jaeger! Annie! Knock it off! Titans are one thing, but you both are humans! End it!" He turned back around and ran off to join the fight.

Annie let out a huge roar and the rest of the Titans answered immediately. They all stopped what they were doing, whether it be destroying a building to find people or devouring someone whole, they began to walk towards Eren and Annie. A small one grabbed onto Eren's leg and bit it while a taller one took hold of his arm and ripped it off. A blood-curdling roar escaped from Eren's mouth from the pain.

Mikasa and Armin heard the roar while taking out a few Titans, and ran towards the commotion. After seeing Eren, Mikasa screamed out in horror and dropped to her knees.

"Eren!" she cried.

Armin could not move from shock as he stared at Eren. Both of them have seen Eren near death before, yet neither of them could move a muscle.

"Ackerman! Arlert!" Levi called from the ground. "Find a way to stop Annie! I'll take care of Eren!"

Finally, Mikasa stood up and looked at Armin. They both knew exactly what to do.

Mikasa turned and leaped off the roof with Armin following behind. Both drew their swords and went straight for Annie. Mikasa looked down at Levi and he gave her a short nod.

"Annie!" Levi called. "You know, you probably couldn't even beat be in a fight! You're weak, and I could easily take you, even in this form!"

Anger filled Annie's eyes as she turned to face Levi. She raised her foot directly above him, casting a large shadow of death over him. She began to lower her foot, but was quickly stopped due to lack of vision and loss of head. Her guard was let down by what Levi had said to her and Mikasa and Armin took advantage of it; Armin stabbing out her eyes and Mikasa removing her head.

The head rolled off her shoulders and hit the ground with a thud. Armin and Mikasa swung back around and landed on the roof, watching as the other Titans broke from their trance and began to devour Annie and her Titan body.

Eren fell to the ground and landed with a loud crash as he took out a few buildings along the way. He began to emerge from the back of the neck, but something was wrong; his arm hadn't grown back yet.

"Eren!" Mikasa yelled. Her and Armin jumped off the roof and ran to his side.

"Jaeger, can you hear me?" Levi asked.

Just then, Hanji came flying from around a building and landed next to Levi and Eren. When she saw Eren, she was horrified and went to try and help him. She walked closer and began to climb the Titan body.

"Hanji! What the hell are you doing?!" Levi yelled at her.

"Helping Eren!" she yelled back. She reached Eren and kneeled down next to him. "Eren, can you hear me? You need to wake up, it's urgent. If you don't, you will die. Please, Eren." There was no answer. All he did was sit there with his eyes closed.

Mikasa ran to Eren's side and knelt down beside him. Tears were streaming down her face as she took hold of the hand he had left.

"Eren! Eren! Wake up! You can't die on me! We have come way too far for it to all end now! Do you hear me?! Get up now! Eren!"


	4. Chapter 4

(Eren's P.O.V.)

I could hear Mikasa screaming at me while I laid there. A sharp pain quickly filled my body, but at the same time, it quickly disappeared. Was this the end?

I heard other voices too. People saying, 'move him' or 'be careful.' Others said things like, 'he's still alive' and 'he got too cocky.' Did I? I then felt hands begin to wrap around me as I felt myself being lifted from the fallen Titan body. Mikasa continued to cry most of the time, and I could tell that Armin was trying to comfort her, but it wasn't really working. I don't remember much after that, but faint voices and the feel of the wind rushing past me as I was taken on horseback to the main building for treatment.

**Three Days Later**

I woke up to the sound of beeping, the smell of disinfectants around me, and the feel of needles in me. I opened my eyes to discover that I was in a hospital. Mikasa and Armin sat by the window, asleep, as Levi stood by the door.

"Jaeger, you're awake. Nice to have you back," he said to me.

"What happened?" I asked him. I tried to raise my arm to adjust the blanket, but couldn't; not because it hurt, but because it wasn't there. I noticed what was wrong and quickly began to panic. Levi walked over to me and tried to calm me down.

Jaeger, relax." But I couldn't. My arm was gone. Last time it happened, it grew back, but it didn't this time. What was going on?!

I was beginning to hyperventilate when Levi smacked me in the face. "Hanji should be here soon with the test results, so until then, just try to relax," he told me.

"Please explain to me how I'm supposed to relax! My arm didn't grow back!"

Just then, Hanji walked through the door holding a yellow file folder. "Oh, good! You're awake." She then proceeded to hang up my x-rays on the light board across from my hospital bed. I studied the x-rays for a while. Everything looked normal; everything except for one spot. The streams of the Titan energy showed up in the x-rays, except for one place: my missing arm. The energy seemed to just cut off at the spot, along with my nerve endings.

"Hanji," I spoke, trying to sit myself up with my one arm; that failed.

She turned around and spoke, "Yes, Eren?"

"What happened?"

"You mean, you don't remember?"

"I remember Annie, and falling off the roof, and turning into a Titan, and…" I tried to remember more. "Uhm…I remember, the Titans attacking me and them hurting my leg, and…my…arm." I glanced at my arm with pleading eyes.

"Anything else?" Hanji asked.

"No, that's it."

"Eren, Annie is dead," Levi told me.

"What," I asked, confused.

"Mikasa cut her head off," he said.

"Mikasa," I looked over at her sleeping by the window. She looked so tired.

"Also," Levi continued. "when you were fighting Annie, a Titan ripped your arm off."

"So, why hasn't it grown back yet?" I questioned.

Hanji looked at the x-rays and pointed to where my arm used to be. "When it was ripped off, it completely separated your nerves and the nerves fused back together before the arm could regenerate."

"What do you mean?" I asked, worry in my eyes.

"You will never have that arm again," she said.

"What…" I spoke.

"I'm really sorry," she responded.

I thought about this for a while. One arm, for the rest of my life? How? How would I help my friends? How will I get dressed? How will I suit up? How will I defeat the Titans? How?

"Eren," Armin said, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

I looked at Armin as he looked at me. I didn't know what to say. What was I supposed to say? 'Hey, Armin, I lost and my arm will never grow back?' Absolutely not.

"Eren!" he yelled. "Mikasa, wake up! Eren's awake!" He shook Mikasa and tried to wake her up. She heard Armin and opened her eyes.

"Eren," she spoke.

"Mikasa," I spoke back.

She jumped up and ran to my side. She grabbed me and gave me a hug. "Eren, you're alive," she said. Tears streamed down her face as she looked at me. "Wait, but what about your arm?"

"It's not going to grow back," I told her.

"Eren, I'm so sorry."

"So am I."

Hanji walked over next to me and began removing the needles from my arm. She helped me sit up so my legs dangled off the bed. Levi walked up next to the bed and set some clothes down on it.

"Let's get you dressed; I'm taking you home," he said.

I snapped at him, "Hell no! You're not helping me get dressed! I can do it by myself!"

"Really?" He looked at me for a while.

"No," I finally gave in.

"Then let's go." He grabbed the clothes and helped me off the bed and into the bathroom to get dressed. Afterwards, we came out and Levi grabbed my stuff. "Let's go, brat." A small smile started to form on his face as we walked out of the room with Mikasa and Armin following close behind. I knew now that from now on, nothing would be the same again with only one arm, and that's how it was going to be.

From then on, Levi helped me with things here and there until I got the hang of it. I'm able to get dressed now and I can even suit up by myself and am getting better at taking out the Titans with my one arm, but even though I don't really need Levi's help anymore, I never want him to leave because he is family, just like everyone else.


End file.
